Girls and Aggression When this school year began, I had every intention of sharing more information for parents on this website and as the year got rolling I admittedly failed. I just came across this podcast from Minnesota Public Radio from the author Rachel Simmons who wrote "Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls". This is a great audio clip for any parent to learn more about relational aggression, social media and it's impact on our kids' perception of themselves, and what parents can do to help their daughters overcome what we tend to pass off as "just a phase". Simmons does a great job of explaining this phenomenon and what we can do to help! Career Day! This year Career Day will be on Tuesday, March 13th. All 8th graders will be going to the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Rice Lake for the annual Career Day that WITC puts on. 8th graders will hear from three different speakers in small group settings that will inform them of career paths for a variety of occupations in each of the career clusters. Meanwhile, the 7th graders will be venturing on our third annual Career Crawl. This takes 7th graders to three different locations in Cumberland (within walking distance of the middle school) to visit with local professionals. Students will learn about the career paths and education needed for a variety of jobs that are held right here in our community!  7th graders visit Ardisam manufacturing 8th graders get a tour of UW-Barron College The move to high school... On Monday, January 23rd at 7pm, all 8th graders and their parents are asked to attend a registration meeting designed to help get 8th graders prepared for high school. At this meeting, your student will receive their registration materials as well as the high school course offerings catalog. High school principal Mr. Narges and high school counselor Mrs. Koehler will present to students to explain how to complete their registration materials and explain some of the requirements and expectations in high school. You will also learn more about the 8th grade Individual Planning Conferences, which are 30-40 minute meetings with your 8th grade student and you. We will discuss their classes in high school, their post-graduate plans, and answer any questions you or your student might have about the very important next four years. You will be able to sign up for a time to meet with school counselor Mrs. Flier after this meeting so bring a calendar to help you find a time that best fits your schedule. See the sidebar to the left and select the "Individual Planning Conferences" link to learn more. This is an exciting time for our 8th graders as they prepare for this transition and we'd like them to be as prepared as possible. Look for a letter in the mail regarding this meeting around January 10th or 11th. Bullying This month the 5th and 6th grade will be talking about bullying and the power bystanders have in eliminating bullying from our school. All throughout elementary school, students have had many guidance lessons about how to handle bullying and we continue to learn skills through 5th and 6th grade. It is important to define bullying as a harmful behavior that is repetitive, with intention to harm, and involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal, relational, and done online or via texting/cell phones. It is important for students to understand that they play a role - whether they are the bully, the victim or the bystander. Students will learn how to ACT - take action, care for the bully and victim, and tell an adult. We teach students to ignore, walk away, speak firmly, and ask bullies to stop, but all too often they don't tell an adult what is going on. Sometimes adults are needed to end the bullying. The people who have the MOST power in getting rid of bullying in our school are our STUDENTS! Their opinions and beliefs about bullying is what will change the climate of our school. If kids think bullying is okay and a normal part of school, bullying will continue. But if students stand up for victims, talk about how they think bullying is wrong, and demonstrate positive social interactions with each other, bullying will not continue at our school. Drug and Alcohol Prevention Unit With the 5th grade classroom guidance, we have been talking about the dangers of alcohol on the growing brains of adolescents and the consequences of smoking. These are two typical conversation pieces when we talk about drug prevention because they are the most commonly used drugs in our society. However, there are substances kids have easier access to that we also go over in our unit. One week we talked about caffeine - something some of us can't get through a morning without - myself included! The problem with caffeine and kids (aside from the hyperactivity that drives you crazy!) is that kids are only supposed to have a maximum of 80 mg. of caffeine a day - that's two Mountain Dews - while adults can handle up to 300 mg. a day. So many "energy drinks" are targeted at kids and they can easily buy these at the local gas station. Our activity has students reading the labels of a variety of drinks they see at gas stations and understanding what it means to put caffeine into their systems. Perhaps the most important lesson I am covering this year is about abusing prescription medications. The reason I say this is the most important is because it is a huge issue across the country and it is because of the easy access for kids. Some of the facts surprised me and helped me realize that we talk to our kids about marijuana, drinking, and other drugs, but we don't often talk about the bottles we have in our medicine cabinets. Did you know... * 12-17 year olds abuse prescription drugs more than ecstasy, crack/cocaine, heroin, and meth combined? * 60% of kids who abuse prescription medications did so before the age of 15? * There are as many new abusers of prescription medications ages 12-17 as there are abusers of marijuana? The problem is, these medications are easily accessible to kids. They seem harmless because a doctor prescribes them. Even over-the-counter medications (which seem even more harmless because you don't even need a doctor's permission) can cause serious damage if abused. We will be talking to students about the dangers of abusing these medications during one of our units. Even so, the most powerful anti-drug are parents who talk to their kids! Get tips on how to talk to your kids at : http://notinmyhouse.drugfree.org/ or Red Ribbon Week! Many students participated this week by dressing up and signing a pledge stating they will remain drug free! Here is gallery of photos of our best dressed! :) Slick Tracy This semester, Mrs. Haughian and Ms. Swiontek's 6th grade classrooms will be learning about the ways young people are affected by alcohol through Project Northland's curriculum Slick Tracy. This is a four lesson program that uses colorful comic books with characters like Slick Tracy and Breathtest Nobeera who teach kids about peer pressure, ways alcohol companies advertise to youth, and reasons why people chose to drink. These also include a take-home portion that involves parents and when students return their signed slip, they make their way closer to a fun activity at the end of the unit! Select the "Slick Tracy" tab on the left side bar to see what we are learning about in Slick Tracy this week! Careers 8 For those of you in my Careers 8 class this quarter, I will be posting the syllabus, rubrics, and assignments that I pass out under the Careers tab to the left. If you've lost your copy you can get another one there! Another great place to look is Edmodo... I update that more frequently than this site. Welcome Back!!! Changes to the MS Counseling department this year: * I've got a new last name! Flier is pronounced "Fleer"(like the old baseball cards) * 8th grade parent conferencing open all year long. In the past, I've opened this up after our 8th grade parent presentation in January, but this year I'm hoping to get the majority of parents and students in before high school registration. More information will be in the newsletters sent home, so check that out and be sure to call me to set up an time to meet! * I'm teaching Careers 8 this year! I'm extremely excited to be teaching careers and working with students as they learn more about the reality of choosing a career and how that impacts their lives. I have a link to the left here for Careers that will contain the worksheets and information for students in that class. * 5th grade - I will be in the 5th grade classrooms once a week as I have been in the past. We will cover topics such as study skills, cooperative learning, drug and alcohol prevention, personal safety, appreciating individuality, world issues, and careers. * 6th grade - This year I will be with Ms. Swiontek and Mrs. Haughian for the 1st semester meeting with classes every other week. Second semester I will work with Mr. Frye and Mrs. Johnson's students. We will only have time for two units - Slick Tracy (our alcohol prevention program) and our unit on preventing bullying in our school. The bullying unit will also include a component to keeping yourself safe which in the past has been a separate unit on personal safety. What's in a name (change)? When I first told last year's 5th graders that I was getting married, they asked me if my last name would be changing. I told them it would change to "Flier" (pronounced "Fleer") and be weird to get used to... a few sighed and said "Aww man! Mrs. Kroll did that to us too!" After being called "Ms. Stromberg" at least 20 times a day for the past four years, it will be difficult to let go of, but I'm sure we'll be used to it soon! And if I hear "Ms. Stromberg!" in the hallway, odds are I will still turn around :) Jigna Essay Awarded to Cumberland Student!! One of the best parts of being a school counselor is when you get to see a student excel at something and you are overwhelmed with pride. Congrats to Hannah, a Jigna Essay winner. Throughout this school year, 7th graders have been earning belts in Mental Karate - a program designed to motivate students to take action and improve their lives. Students had to demonstrate several different characteristics, such as taking initiative, contributing to their community, having discipline to work on something every day for 30 days, face a fear, attempt the impossible, and take a good look at their strengths and weaknesses to find ways to improve their relationships and their lives. Students were then asked to write an essay explaining what it was like to go through these five belts throughout the year, how it improved their lives, and what they learned from it. This essay is called the "Jigna essay". The founder of Mental Karate, Mawi Asgedom is from Ethiopia and in the native language of Tigrynian, "Jigna" means "a warrior who can never be defeated". The Jigna essay is the capstone to the program and demonstrates the skills the student has gained and shows how they can be a "warrior who is never defeated". Each year, students across the country (and Canada!) are asked to submit this Jigna essay to Mawi. Three students are selected each year based upon their efforts and their essay. This year, our very own Hannah has won this award. She will be featured in Mental Karate publications, on their website (www.mentalkarate.com) and has also won $200. This is an incredible honor and we are very proud of Hannah for all of her efforts this year in Mental Karate and for her beautifully written essay. Congrats Hannah!!! I am so proud of you!!  |
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